Launch of the Business and Property Courts of England and Wales
On 2 October 2017, the Business and Property Courts of England and Wales were launched.
The aim of the Business and Property Courts is to create a single "umbrella" for the business specialist Courts of England and Wales. This therefore brings together the following specialist Courts:
- The Commercial Court (including the Admiralty Court and Mercantile Court);
- The Technology and Construction Court; and
- The Courts of the Chancery Division (including those dealing with financial services, intellectual property, competition, and insolvency).
Outside of London, there will now be Business and Property Courts in Birmingham, Manchester, Leeds, Bristol and Cardiff; with Newcastle and Liverpool likely to follow in the future.
The practices and procedures of the above Courts will remain (i.e. applying the Civil Procedure Rules as before along with retaining their own procedural Guides). The way in which cases are dealt with in those Courts will also not change. However, the aim of this new "Court" is to allow greater flexibility in cross-deployment of Judges with suitable expertise and experience, and for cohesion between London and the regions; moving away from one central 'hub' in London.
For further information please see the Government's Advisory Note:
This article is for general guidance only. It provides useful information in a concise form. Action should not be taken without obtaining specific legal advice.